- VanHockeyGuy

what's up chuckles.

Pretty quiet hear on hockey preseason eve.

Litmus test?
- Pacificgem

It’s acid

It’s acid
- CanuckDon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzYXHp4PCVE

Make sure you pack the beaches or whatever passes for a beach up there. Kids sand box? Some dirt next to a pond? Whatever, just make sure you get as close to as many other people as you can. Summer is the only time the Corona Virus is dormant so take advantage of your three days grace.
- 1970vintage

I barely leave the house, if I am not working, but I sure miss the many waterways we have here.

Beautiful part of the coast
- Nuckerwhatever

It sure is.👍

I barely leave the house, if I am not working, but I sure miss the many waterways we have here.
- Reubenkincade

COVID or shut-in?

COVID or shut-in?
- bloatedmosquito

Covid concerns. Way too many out of towners and out of province people here for construction project and the world class fishing.

Hockey!! Excited to see what Ferland brings tonight. TG was saying this is the best and most engaged he’s ever seen him — hopefully will be a handful in the series.

Hockey!! Excited to see what Ferland brings tonight. TG was saying this is the best and most engaged he’s ever seen him — hopefully will be a handful in the series.
- NewYorkNuck

I hope his health maintains otherwise he'll be eating crayons by the end of the summer.

Got add the sports channels back to my cable package today.

It's game day


I watched a bit of the first period between Oilers / Flames...just felt weird, didn't it?

It's game day


I watched a bit of the first period between Oilers / Flames...just felt weird, didn't it?
- Pacificgem

Had a bbq with the family and then we went down to the lake for an evening hike. Wasn’t thinking about hockey at all.

It's game day


I watched a bit of the first period between Oilers / Flames...just felt weird, didn't it?
- Pacificgem

Tor/Mon was on at work (sound off). Didn’t watch, but it seemed pretty normal the few minutes I saw.

Rick Dhaliwal
@DhaliwalSports
Source ins Russia tells me that #Canucks draft pick Vasily Podkolzin's team has shut down training camp for a while due to covid 19 concerns.

Podkolzin is healthy and has not tested positive.
9:01 AM · Jul 29, 2020·Twitter Web App

Looks like The Hockey News has the Canucks beating the Wild in four games.

It's game day


I watched a bit of the first period between Oilers / Flames...just felt weird, didn't it?
- Pacificgem

not really in my opinion.

it just felt like training camp/pre-season. it's just a month or so difference so everything feels like september hockey wise.

i think i know what you mean in that it didn't "spark" a whole bunch of interest in me to watch. but i never (hardly) watch pre-season anyway. i'm just gearing up for when games matter. then i'm sure i'll be interested.

don't want to oversaturate your hockey interest just yet when we're going to be having about 7,000 nhl games a day in a little while.

Looks like The Hockey News has the Canucks beating the Wild in four games.
- bloatedmosquito

lame stream media... what the hell do they know? bunch of basement dwelling hacks who couldn't get real jobs.

....oh, you said they picked them to win? you know-nothing whiners are all full of sh!t. see, even the hockey experts at THN are picking the canucks!

lame stream media... what the hell do they know? bunch of basement dwelling hacks who couldn't get real jobs.

....oh, you said they picked them to win? you know-nothing whiners are all full of sh!t. see, even the hockey experts at THN are picking the canucks!
- RealityChecker

Just in case you needed a refresher...

Season series:
Jan. 12, 2020: Canucks 4, Wild 1

Feb. 6, 2020: Wild 4, Canucks 2

Feb. 19, 2020: Wild 4, Canucks 3 (SO)

Schedule:
Sunday, Aug. 2, 10:30 p.m.: Wild at Canucks

Tuesday, Aug. 4, 10:45 p.m.: Wild at Canucks

Thursday, Aug. 6, TBD: Canucks at Wild

Friday, Aug. 7, TBD: Canucks at Wild *

Sunday, Aug. 9, TBD: Wild at Canucks *

Just in case you needed a refresher...

Season series:

- bloatedmosquito

I've been lame in giving a milquetoast opinion saying that it's going to be a coin toss for the play-in round.

But if I have to pick, I'd say canucks.

Their young players are the difference makers and I truly believe that they benefited most (NYC Nuck brought up QH yesterday) from the lay off. Conventional wisdom says that vets will bounce back quicker and they will be relied on more. There was an article on this point for several sports mostly focusing on baseball and basketball. However, I think it's the young guys who will get their "step" quicker. If nothing else, I would think that the younger players lost less fitness and are able to rebuild it quicker than the vets (Jake obviously excluded lol.)

I've been lame in giving a milquetoast opinion saying that it's going to be a coin toss for the play-in round.

But if I have to pick, I'd say canucks.

Their young players are the difference makers and I truly believe that they benefited most (NYC Nuck brought up QH yesterday) from the lay off. Conventional wisdom says that vets will bounce back quicker and they will be relied on more. There was an article on this point for several sports mostly focusing on baseball and basketball. However, I think it's the young guys who will get their "step" quicker. If nothing else, I would think that the younger players lost less fitness and are able to rebuild it quicker than the vets (Jake obviously excluded lol.)
- RealityChecker

Agree with all of it and would be a bit shocked if Canucks lose that series but THN piece did bring up an interesting point:

Defensively, the Canucks bled shots, allowing 33.3 per game, fourth most in the NHL. Add that to the fact they were also second in blocked shots and you get the picture: the puck spends a lot of time in the Canucks’ zone. Vancouver was a bottom-10 team in Corsi percentage.

If the Canucks struggle to score, they will be in trouble.

Agree with all of it and would be a bit shocked if Canucks lose that series but THN piece did bring up an interesting point:

Defensively, the Canucks bled shots, allowing 33.3 per game, fourth most in the NHL. Add that to the fact they were also second in blocked shots and you get the picture: the puck spends a lot of time in the Canucks’ zone. Vancouver was a bottom-10 team in Corsi percentage.

If the Canucks struggle to score, they will be in trouble.
- bloatedmosquito

Maybe you should do a pod cast from your garage.

Agree with all of it and would be a bit shocked if Canucks lose that series but THN piece did bring up an interesting point:

Defensively, the Canucks bled shots, allowing 33.3 per game, fourth most in the NHL. Add that to the fact they were also second in blocked shots and you get the picture: the puck spends a lot of time in the Canucks’ zone. Vancouver was a bottom-10 team in Corsi percentage.

If the Canucks struggle to score, they will be in trouble.
- bloatedmosquito

it's mentioned on this thread many times. shots allowed is their achilles heal.

that also flows into the larger point (cliche as it is) that goaltending makes all the difference.

which goalie gets into the zone quicker? rusty players can be covered up (a lot of times) through good team play.

a rusty goalie will be exposed badly.

it's mentioned on this thread many times. shots allowed is their achilles heal.

that also flows into the larger point (cliche as it is) that goaltending makes all the difference.

which goalie gets into the zone quicker? rusty players can be covered up (a lot of times) through good team play.

a rusty goalie will be exposed badly.
- RealityChecker

Good thing that Markstrom has been looking good. I'm fairly confident they can get past Minny.

Good thing that Markstrom has been looking good. I'm fairly confident they can get past Minny.
- Marwood

we'll see which marky comes to play. it could be worth a lot of money/years for his contract.

it's mentioned on this thread many times. shots allowed is their achilles heal.

that also flows into the larger point (cliche as it is) that goaltending makes all the difference.

which goalie gets into the zone quicker? rusty players can be covered up (a lot of times) through good team play.

a rusty goalie will be exposed badly.
- RealityChecker

I think that’s the biggest ‘breaking point’ for this series: goalies. If Minny get reliable goaltending, their system will be tough for the young guys to beat. If Markstrom stands on his head as he did most of the year, Canucks will be in tough to lose.

One thing about the young guys: even though they’ve benefited most from the rest, they’re also all high skill players who take a bit longer to find their groove. The meat and potatoes guys can dump and chase all day. The start of the year is never pretty hockey, so that might favour Minny a bit.